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Home sales decline in April, with both Toronto and Vancouver experienced diminishing activity.

“Sales in Vancouver are down from record levels in the first half of last year but the gap has started to close,” CREA President Andrew Peck. “Meanwhile, sales are up in Calgary and Edmonton from last year’s lows and trending higher in Ottawa and Montreal.”

National home sales fell 1.7% month-over-month in April and 7.5% year-over-year.

Newly listed homes, meanwhile, were up 10% month-over-month.

Unsurprisingly, the recently announced Ontario housing plan created some uneasiness for both buyers and sellers.

“Homebuyers and sellers both reacted to the recent Ontario government policy announcement aimed at cooling housing markets in and around Toronto,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “The number of new listings in April spiked to record levels in the GTA, Oakville-Milton, Hamilton-Burlington and Kitchener-Waterloo, where there had been a severe supply shortage. And with only ten days to go between the announcement and the end of the month, sales in each of these markets were down from the previous month. It suggests these housing markets have started to cool.”

While the market may have cooled in terms of home sales -- which were down 3.8% year-over-year -- the Greater Toronto Area’s home prices continued their impossible trajectory.

The average cost of a home in Toronto jumped 24.6% year-over-year to $920,791.

“Policy makers will no doubt continue to keep a close eye on the combined effect of federal and provincial measures aimed at cooling housing markets of particular concern, while avoiding further regulatory changes that risk producing collateral damage in communities where the housing market is well balanced or already favours buyers,” Klump said.
Meanwhile, Vancouver sales were down 26.2% y/y but prices rebounded back above the $1 million mark, jumping from an average of $991,690 in March to $1,056,136 in April.

The national average home price jumped 10.4% year-over-year to $559,317.